Chasing Pan_Tales from Neverland Page 9

  His grimy teeth were gritted, and his knuckles shown white where he was holding the wheel so that I couldn’t steer us away. But his eyes were locked on mine, and I knew he was considering my words.

  “Captain!”

  We both turned to the crewman that had called out.

  It was Black Dog, “We have lost seven men, sir! What is your direction?”

  Silver looked back at me, and for a moment I feared that he would demand Black Dog remove me from the deck. But he didn’t.

  After a pregnant pause, he shouted, “Fall back! Do you hear, fall back!”

  He released the wheel, and I nearly went sprawling to the deck in surprise as the momentum shook my arms. Then Silver began helping me turn the ship. It was arduous work. But we labored in tandem until we were out of range from the camp.

  The Jolly Roger followed the Henrietta and a short while later Tiger Lilly, and Alex sailed across on the ropes.

  She went straight to Silver, “I don’t know how she did it. But thank you.”

  Silver pinked, his voice was gruff as he dithered, “I didn’t need any encouragement, Princess.”

  Alex raised a brow, “We saw you and Ebony having quite a discussion.”

  Silver growled.

  “My father,” I swallowed as all eyes turned to me. Taking a shaky breath, I continued, “My father saw the wisdom in retreating for the moment so that we could rejoin efforts and win the battle.”

  I thought for a split second that Silver might cry. His lip trembled, and he cleared his throat, “It is as my daughter said. I don’t want to go in guns blazing until we know what we are up against.”

  Lilly went up to Silver and shocked him to the core by kissing his whiskered cheek.

  “I won’t forget this, Silver,” she vowed.

  I wasn’t sure the man could take this much affection and goodwill on the same day.

  Silver turned to the crew who was standing at attention, awaiting orders.

  “Pan! Puck! Tinkerbell! We meet immediately in my cabin. There is much to discuss,” he turned to Charlie, “You will be in charge in my absence.”

  Nate and Tom scowled at this, but Charlie beamed, “Aye, aye, Captain!”

  And a pirate was born.

  CHAPTER 20 – Peter

  I AM NOT ONE FOR DRINKING. Having lived as long as I have, one finds that shitty hangovers aren’t fun. And besides, everyone knows that human alcohol tastes like swill.

  Perhaps that is why I caved into temptation, when the Trickster King pulled out an aged bottle of mulled fairy rum. Or it very well could have been the fact that I had fallen hopeless and madly in love with Ebony.

  I felt a tremendous amount of guilt for not being honest with her about my origins. It is only that part of my life seemed to be a millennium ago. As far as I knew, the fairy council didn’t recognize my status.

  I hadn’t seen my family in so long it was almost as if they never existed.

  When Puck showed up with fairy drink and news from my brother, I caved.

  The rum felt like syrup coating my teeth and tongue before rolling lazily down my throat.

  Pure bliss.

  “Damn!” I said appreciatively, “Where did you find this?”

  Puck leaned back against the ropes. We were perched in the crow’s nest. On the morrow, we were to infiltrate the island and find out what in the hell had happened. It had been Ebony’s idea.

  Ebony.

  Her long brown hair and flashing eyes caused my chest to ache with want and need. I would talk to her. I had too.

  But first, I wanted to know about my brother.

  “I am sure I swiped it from the fairy court,” he boasted, and I faint smile crossed his face. “I may not have been the fastest at retrieving the goods, but I still have my ways.”

  I huffed, remembering years gone by, “Sticky fingers, that’s what Jim would call me when I appropriated something without the owner’s permission. I was so proud of the moniker. Lord, knows that it’s a terrible thing to be known for.”

  Puck shrugged, “We were kids. Isn’t that a rite of passage or something?”

  I nodded taking another sip of the rich rum.

  “I suppose,” my eyes met his. “Is that your excuse for all the havoc you have caused?”

  Puck grinned, and I saw in that smile the friend of my childhood.

  “Robin Goodfellow was a right twit,” Puck chuckled, “I sometimes wonder if I will ever outlive my actions back then.”

  I felt myself slipping into a nice buzz. It loosened my tongue when I usually would have kept my peace.

  “Why are you here, Puck?”

  He looked at me for a long moment, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  I considered his answer because it was most likely true. But with a bit of wine in my belly, I was feeling generous.

  “Nonsense, you were my sworn blood brother, have you forgotten?”

  The corner of Puck’s mouth twitched, “How could I forget? You almost severed my hand making the oath.”

  I had the decency to appear shamefaced but ruined it by laughing.

  He tossed a bit of straw at my head and then offered to refill my glass that was surprisingly empty.

  With another cup of fortification, I asked again, “Why are you here, Puck?”

  “I am not the same boy that I once was,” he began. “How do you live down centuries of mistakes and misdeeds?”

  I raised a brow, “Going on the straight and narrow?”

  I knew my question sounded incredulous. It was only that Puck was the Trickster King.

  He met my gaze. His violet eyes were solemn as he said, “I wasn’t supposed to be the fairy assigned to this voyage. Silver made some type of bargain with Oberon, and God help him if he doesn’t complete his end of it. Your brother Jim had volunteered in exchange for the council to reconsider your status.”

  I was shocked speechless.

  Puck nodded, “Jim had been petitioning the court for over a hundred years now.”

  “Why would they even consider it?” my tone was harsh, as I tried to process what I was hearing. “I was judged and convicted. They wouldn’t go against their favorite Goodfellow.”

  Puck sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, well, I petitioned with Jim and told the council the truth about my treatment of Tink.”

  I looked at my cup which was rapidly losing rum to my belly.

  “Why would you do that?”

  Puck leaned forward, “I was in love with Tink. But I was only a child and hadn’t the capacity to know how to treat her. I didn’t have parents as a guide, only the royal court who treats everyone like shit and smile about it. Look, Peter, I was wrong. I ruined your life, hers, and probably a million others. I am not proud of it.”

  I shook my head and felt it sloshing about. It was time to put down the drink.

  “Why now?” I demanded, “Why after all of these years are you trying to do the right thing?”

  There was sorrow in those violet depths, “You and Tink deserve to come home.”

  “And the council hopped on board with that?” I spat, knowing that those bastards would do nothing of the sort.

  “No,” he said simply. “I got myself banished along with you.”

  “Fuck,” I breathed, “What a stupid ass thing to do!”

  A ghost of a smile crossed his lips, “You have changed, Peter. For the better, but it is strange for me to reconcile the man with the boy I knew. Anyhow, Jim was to accompany Silver. So, I tied him up and took his place. By the time he got free, I had already sailed with Silver.”

  “And that is why the good Captain has you by the balls,” I figured, putting the pieces together, “He knew that you weren’t supposed to be the one.”

  Puck nodded, “But because of my history with you, he allowed it on the condition that I don’t have any screw ups. The swordplay on the deck notwithstanding, I have been rather well behaved.”

  I scoffed, “You always did have a hot
temper.”

  Puck laughed, “Pot? Might you have a moment to greet your equal, Kettle?”

  I saluted him, “Just so, my friend, just so.”

  He paused, staring.

  “What?” I looked about me.

  Puck swallowed, “Nothing, it is only that it’s been a long time since you have claimed me as your friend.”

  I frowned, “It is most likely the drink talking.”

  He nodded, “Most likely.”

  “I shall probably want to run you through when I am sober,” I continued.

  “Most definitely,” he agreed. But there was hope in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

  I smiled at him, “People can change, Puck.”

  He gave a shuddered sigh, “God help me, I hope so. About that message from your brother?”

  I felt a knot in my throat. The last thing my other brother had said to me was that he was ashamed that we shared the same blood and that I was never to call upon him because Peter Gallagher was dead.

  “Yes,” I was barely able to squeeze out the word.

  “Jim wanted to tell you himself,” Puck was looking into the distance, his voice low, “but he had talked with me enough about it that I feel I can get the main idea across. Jim knew that you took his name when you were first banished. It almost ruined him that you still idolized him after he had so ruthlessly cut you off. We became friends over the years, and Jim long since wished that he had never said the things that he did.”

  I felt something wet at my lashes and swiped at my eyes harshly, “Damn sea winds!”

  “I really am sorry, Peter,” Puck hung his head. “For all of it.”

  I kicked his boot until he looked at me, “I don’t give a flying fuck about who you were, Puck. That is over and done with. But you are going to need to prove yourself, not only with me but with everyone.”

  He nodded, “That’s all I ask.”

  CHAPTER 21 – Ebony

  I HAD CRAWLED INTO my bunk only to sit and stare at the wall. I hated the room without Peter. But I was not about to go crawling to him. A woman had her pride, or at least what was left of it after this hellacious trip.

  I heard muffled singing, something about a pirate life or something. I leaned up on my elbow to try and hear more clearly when the door burst open and Peter came stumbling in with the help of Puck.

  “Get away from him!” I shouted, jumping off the bed and racing to Peter’s side.

  Puck’s handsome face broke into a knowing grin, “I am just returning him to you. And for the record, if I hadn’t he would have broken his neck trying to walk off the crow’s nest.”

  “Walk off? What in the world are you talking about?”

  But Puck didn’t have time to answer because Peter had caught sight of me and was slipping his hands inside of my pants.

  “Peter, fuck!” I squealed as his fingers brushed my ass.

  “Yeah,” his voice was low and thick, “I want to fuck. That is a fantastic idea.”

  He picked me up and nearly had us falling to the floor.

  “What did you do to him?” I demanded of Puck, who was trying not to laugh his ass off.

  “I did nothing,” Puck said innocently. “He may have had a glass too many by the looks of things.”

  “What was he drinking?” I cried out as Peter started to grind his long cock against me right on the floor.

  “Rum,” Puck backed away, amusement apparent as Peter sucked loudly on my neck.

  “Ouch! Why is he like this?”

  “Fairy drink can make one amorous, and with that, I bid you both a good night.”

  “Night, Robin!” Peter grinned at Puck who was closing the door, “Bloody good fellow that Puck, it’s like his name, Goodfellow!”

  Peter laughed at his drunken wittiness and Puck closed the door with a sharp tug.

  “He’s my friend you, you know that Ebony? I know he was a bad, but he’s going to be good now, and Jim doesn’t hate me.”

  “What in the fuck are you talking about?” I was so lost! “How did Puck convince you to give him another chance. He kept Tinkerbell as a slave, Peter!”

  Peter blinked as if trying to clear his mind, “He’s sorry. Sometimes when you are bad, you say sorry, Eb. I know you don’t like to be wrong. But it does happen. I am wrong all the time.”

  “I don’t like to be wrong?” I said dangerously.

  He nodded happily, “Like right now. You are likely to hit me, and then you will have to say sorry. That’s how it works.”

  You must be fucking kidding me.

  “I will show you,” He leaned in and kissed my lips.

  Nibbling against the tender flesh, he licked the seam until I relented, and he swept inside. My pussy clenched with need and my heart nearly leaped from my chest. But we had things to resolve.

  I shoved against his chest until he begrudgingly moved back.

  “Peter,” I was hot and getting wet, but still confused and angry enough to not jump into bed. “You have been walking around here like a bear with a sore head ever since we discovered Puck. Now, you act as though you are best friends. I need to know what is going on.”

  Peter placed me on my feet and stood up next to me with only a little wobble. He yanked his clothes off despite my squawking protests and then began to remove mine.

  “Eb, the thing was that I was wrong,” he almost sounded lucid. “But I didn’t want to say sorry to you.”

  “That’s a horrible thing to say!” I bristled and tugged my shirt back over my breasts.

  He raised a brow, “Now you are being mean.”

  “Why didn’t you want to say sorry to me?” I huffed.

  A light pink tinged his cheeks, “Because I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be with me. Don’t tell anyone, but I am really a fairy.”

  The humor of this large muscular man telling me that he was a fairy was not lost on me.

  My lips twitched, “I am aware of that fact.”

  His brow rose, “You are?”

  Peter had practically shouted it.

  “Do you still want to be with me, Ebony? Because in the spirit of honesty I feel that I need to tell you that I am in love with you. I want to have babies with you. Erm, maybe you will carry the babies, I don’t have a uterus.”

  He had literally lost his mind.

  “Why?” I felt a flare of hope in my chest, but I needed to know if this was real and not just good fairy rum. “Why do you love me?”

  His green eyes darkened, and he cupped my face in his large hands.

  “I love the way you glance down at the floor and bite your lip when you are nervous. I love the way you take whatever comes your way in stride. I love the way you have opened yourself up to a relationship with your father, despite how hard I know it must be. I love that you have been so kind to Tink, even though I know what a pill she can be. I love the way you face danger with a level head and a cool blade. But mostly, I love the look in your eyes when you watch me and don’t know that I can see you. You like me, Ebony.”

  I tried to swallow the giant knot in my throat.

  “How do I look at you?” I choked out, knowing damn well what he was talking about.

  “Like I am a king or a God. I can’t let that light go out of your eyes.”

  “And you believe that if I knew you were a fairy and not just a man that would change things?” I cupped his jaw. “I love you, too, Peter.”

  He shook his head, “You can’t love me. No one loves me.”

  “How can you say that? Peter, I am sure that there have been people who have loved you.”

  “Wendy loved me like a brother, but she wasn’t on Neverland long enough to become immortal. She and her brothers grew up and were gone.” He sighed, “I don’t want to talk about this.”

  I leaned up to pull his face down to rest his forehead on mine, “I love you. I don’t care if you are Jim Hawkins, or Peter Pan, or Peter Gallagher. I love the man you are, not a name or a species.”

  He smiled, an
d my heart melted into a puddle of goo, “I think I might be a little drunk. You just said that you love me.”

  He swept me up in his arms and carried me over to the berth lying me down upon the coverlet.

  I giggled when he saw I still had my shirt on and scowled. In one smooth movement, he had it up and over my head.

  I ran a finger over the front of his boxer briefs where his dick was straining against the fabric. I was completely naked and wanted him to be the same.

  But I was curious about this part of him.

  I pushed Peter onto his back and pulled the elastic away to see his thick throbbing cock trying to break free. Peter moaned low in his throat when I blew air across the moistened tip.

  I nudged him to pick up his hips and slid his underwear down his thighs making his dick spring free. It was slick as silk and thick enough for me to worry that this wouldn’t work.

  But I wanted to try. I cupped his heavy balls in hand and, he growled out his approval. Then with my other hand I grasped his massive shaft and licked his slit and tasted a man for the first time. He tasted a little salty, musky, and smelled of sensuous heat. I placed the head inside of my lips licking the rim before gently pulling him into the hot recesses of my mouth.

  “Fuck!” he cried out trying to clutch the sheets around him.

  I smiled with his dick in my mouth. Taking him a bit further, I began to suck and rock my head back and forth. Peter writhed beneath me. I could feel the control he was fighting to hold as my mouth took him deeper and sucked him harder.

  The more his toes curled the wetter I became, until my pussy was throbbing with need, and I was sucking him to the back of my throat.

  Peter’s hands sank into my hair, and he pulled as his body arched off the bedcoverings.

  “Fuck, Ebony, I am going to cum!”

  I knew I could pull off, but I wanted to taste him. I wanted my first time to be a memory that neither of us would ever forget.

  I gave his balls a tender squeeze and sucked him as deep as I could do. He cursed loudly, coming hard and fast into my mouth until I couldn’t hold it all and some leaked out the side.